Malevolence and Mayhem
by Krissy001
Summary: A young Legolas finds himself trapped in a living nightmare. In order to help him, Elladan, Elrohir, Haldir, and Lindir must assist him in escaping from the clutches of the worst creature imaginable: a girl.
1. Chapter 1

**Malevolence and Mayhem**

 **Summary: A young Legolas finds himself trapped in a living nightmare. In order to help him, Elladan, Elrohir, Haldir, and Lindir must assist him in escaping from the clutches of the worst creature imaginable: a girl.**

 **This story could be considered a sequel to one of my other stories, "Mischief and Misunderstandings," but it isn't necessary to read the previous counterpart in order to understand "Malevolence and Mayhem." (Though you will probably find this story much more immersing if you do go read the prequel ;D).**

 **Also, thank you to all who reviewed or favorited "Mischief and Misunderstandings," after I completed it.**

 **Any words in a language you don't recognize? A place you've never heard of? Be sure to check the description at the bottom of the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any other works of Tolkien.**

Chapter 1

 _To: Lords Elladan and Elrohir_

 _In accordance with your friendship with Prince Legolas of Greenwood, son of King Thranduil, the Lords Elladan and Elrohir of Rivendell, sons of Lord Elrond, have been invited to join in the celebration of Legolas reaching his 25_ _th_ _year. This prestigious event will be accompanied only by…_

Elladan skimmed over the seemingly endless descriptions of how significant the celebration was, the "boring stuff" as Elrohir liked to call it, and instead scanned to the bottom where there was a short note written in a slightly untidy hand; seeming even more messy when compare to the pristine calligraphy of the rest of the letter.

 _Greetings Elladan and Elrohir! I convinced my father to send an invitation to you, he was strangely reluctant; I have no idea why._

At this, Elladan smirked. Last time he and his brother had met Legolas at a fall festival, there had been a small- okay, well maybe not that small- disaster that had involved them. But an accident, relating to a few barrels of enchanted water disguised as wine, was hardly a good enough reason to not want to invite your son's friends to celebrate his begetting day.

 _Anyways, I've also sent letters to Haldir and Lindir. Hope you can come; it should be lots of fun! Though the amount of time I can spend with you may be a little limited; Ada's now threatening to give me lessons on how to write a proper formal letter. I really hope he's jesting… Actually, it doesn't look like he is. Oh dear… hope to see you soon! Bye!_

The last few sentences were extremely messy, as if they had been rapidly scribbled onto the paper without any regard to forming the letters properly or placing them in a straight horizontal line. When Elrohir had first seen them, he had immediately shown the letter to Erestor, and told him that if the Crown Prince of Greenwood could get away with writing like that to lords of distant elven realms, then there was really no point of a lowly lord like himself completing his calligraphy assignment. For some reason, Erestor didn't seem to agree. That had been days ago however, and they were now already on their way to Greenwood.

As Elladan looked at the rather crumpled invitation in his hand he found his impatience to get to the great elven realm increase and a grin spread across his face. With the five friends back together, the possibilities of the things they could do were endless. With a sigh, Elladan rested back on his bed roll and drifted off to sleep whilst thinking of all the adventures and fun they would have. Unfortunately, Elladan was completely oblivious of what truly awaited them in Greenwood, and there was hardly going to be an aspect of enjoyment to it at all.

* * *

Saethor looked about nervously; gently tugging at the taunt string of his bow. The forest was turning into disarray all about him. Birds flew as fast as they could, squawking loudly as they went. Squirrels chattered loudly as they leaped from branch to branch; desperately trying to flee from… well, _something_. Seathor wasn't quite sure what yet, but it surely had to be a fearsome beast to frighten the animals so.

Slowly, the elf warrior crept forward, cautiously keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. They animals seemed to be fleeing from the direction of the main road that twisted through Greenwood and eventually led to Thranduil's kingdom. Suddenly, a shrill noise echoed through the trees, causing Saethor to pause mid-step.

 _Sweet Eru, what was that!?_

The noise rang out again and this time it seemed to be closer. Whatever it was it was truly unpleasant; grating on the ears and causing Saethor to wince. He quickly recovered himself however; he was a warrior of the realm of Greenwood, he would not flee at a mere noise. Whatever was creating this ghastly sound would soon be found and- the noise rang out again, causing Saethor to drop his bow and slap his hands over his ringing ears- and hopefully stopped.

A few minutes later, Saethor was edging through the trees along the main road. Part of him wondered why he was creeping; surely nothing could hear him over this awful song! For clearly that was what it was, except it was being played at a ridiculously high pitch and volume and the musician seemed to have forgotten what the rest of the melody was, for it was just the same three notes played over and over- Valar! It was driving him mad!

Breathing deeply in a vain attempt to calm himself, Saethor leapt to a different branch. The noise was coming from quite close by now, if he peered through these branches he would be able to see- Saethor froze. Truly he must have been driven mad, for surely a group of elves could not produce such a horrid sound?! But no matter how much he blinked or rubbed at his eyes, the sight before him remained the same: a group of elves, appearing to be from Lothlorien judging by their garb, mounted on horses, and slowly riding towards Thranduil's kingdom. The noise itself issued from a wooden recorder, which was controlled by no great beast, but instead by a small, golden-haired elfling. The elfling in question was staring vacantly into the distance, and seemed completely oblivious to the horrible, Eru-awful sound he was emitting.

Deciding that it would be impolite to not greet the guest, or, more truthfully, that he should really put a stop to this horrendous music before it drove everyone in Greenwood to madness, Saethor leapt out of the tree he had been hiding in, and landed directly on the road in front of the elves.

Their horses immediately came to a stop, along with the horse the elfling was sitting atop, but instead of the music ceasing, as Saethor had expected it to, it continued on. The elfling kept gazing into space and playing the same awful three notes repeatedly, causing Saethor to look at him in shock and with more than a little bit of horror expressed on his face. Finally snapping out of his perturbed stupor, Saethor turned to the elf that had been trying to catch his attention for the past few moments.

"Well met, my friend." The elf smiled, though he seemed rather tense, "As I understand it, you're on a patrol from the halls of the elven King?"

Saethor nodded, glancing between the elf and the elfling playing the recorder, "Erm, indeed I am-"

Saethor was cut short as one of the elves from Lothlorien let out a howl of fury and exasperation. The elf leaned over towards the elfling playing the recorder and, without the slightest hesitation, took the wooden instrument from his hands and snapped it in half, causing most of the elves to let out sighs of relief. The elfling didn't seem to mind the destruction of his toy (or torture implement; depending on how you look at it); indeed he was simply staring at the elf whilst looking completely unfazed.

"Finally," the elf, who had broken the recorder, sighed, a blissful look appearing upon his face, "Silence, beautiful silence."

After a moment he snapped out of his reverie, "Right, anyways, you're here to escort us to the halls of the elven King, are you not?" he looked expectantly at Saethor.

Saethor managed to drag his gaze away from the strange elfling to answer, "Um, yes, I suppose I am."

A few minutes later, as the elven assembly set out once more, the odd elfling, whose name was Haldir, slowly reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a second wooden recorder.

* * *

Lindir was in hiding, or as much in hiding as one could be when mounted upon a horse and riding for the Halls of King Thranduil. So far, his morning had consisted of steering his horse amongst groups of tall elves in an attempt to remain unseen from the twin terrors, also known as Elladan and Elrohir. The young elven lords, having become bored with the constant riding, had taken it upon themselves to liven up the party of Greenwood-bound elves. As of that morning, they had spent their time filling up an empty water skin with all manner of insects, and any arachnids, they could get their treacherous little hands on. Lindir had yet to discover what they intended to do with them, and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find out.

Noticing, just out the corner of his eye, Elladan casually sneaking over to the edge of the path in order to slip a large, green caterpillar off a leaf, Lindir quickly nudged his horse into a slightly faster walk. He attempted to disappear amongst a group of elven warriors, but jumped slightly when a voice suddenly addressed him.

Glorfindel whispered into his ear, "You wouldn't happen to know when the twins intend to initiate whatever it is they are planning?"

Lindir shook his head and nervously looked over his shoulder to where Elladan and Elrohir where involved in an intense, but inaudible, conversation. Lindir noted nervously that they kept gesturing to where the nobles, which included Elrond, Celebrian, and Erestor, rode; clustered together in a group.

"Unfortunately I don't," Lindir answered Glorfindel's question.

Glorfindel sighed, "Ah, well, be sure to tell me if you ever do find out. I've already had a squirrel tangled into my hair due to you three, and I'd like to keep spiders out of it."

In remembrance of this occurrence, Lindir smiled ever so slightly. Not slightly enough to get past Glorfindel's observations, however.

"I saw that, young one," Glorfindel growled, but smirked when Lindir blushed. He then whistled, and his horse started into a trot; leaving Lindir alone amongst the elven warriors.

The rest of the ride towards Greenwood was quiet after that, and, strangely enough, lacking in any bug related incidents. Elladan's and Elrohir's supposedly good behavior was doing nothing for Lindir's nerves however, and, as they rode to the entrance of Thranduil's Halls, where the elven King was waiting, Lindir found himself hoping that the twins had enough sense not to set the insects upon the ruler who was to be their host for the next little while.

However, then something happened that drove the bugs completely from Lindir's mind. He looked to the right of King Thranduil, smiling as he saw Legolas standing there, but his friend was not alone. Clinging tightly to the Prince's arm, and standing so close to him she might as well have been attached to his side, was a girl.

* * *

Elrohir nearly fell off his horse as his eyes alighted upon the most traumatizing sight he had ever seen in his life. Legolas was standing next to a girl-nay, not next too, he might as well have been sharing the same space as the girl-and he wasn't shaking her off or running around screaming that he had been contaminated. Admittedly, the Prince did look rather tense and slightly uncomfortable, but he was just _standing_ there! For the life of him, Elrohir couldn't understand it and took to staring at his friend and gaping in shock.

It wasn't until Elladan nudged him with his elbow that Elrohir managed to snap his jaw shut.

"What is wrong with him?!" Elladan muttered, just as Lindir approached from behind them and hissed the same thing.

Lord Elrond proceeded to dismount his horse and greet King Thranduil. Following his example, the elflings dismounted their horses and slowly advanced upon Legolas; gazing warily at the beaming elleth by his side. As soon as the elflings got close to Legolas, the Prince suddenly flung himself away from the girl and practically tackled Elladan in an embrace. Elrohir and Lindir looked on; surprised at Legolas's overly exuberant greeting.

"I've missed you, my friends!" Legolas exclaimed, pulling away. He was smiling, but Lindir noted that there was something slightly off about his grin. Out of the corner of his eye, he also noticed that the elleth's smile had turned into a frustrated frown the moment Legolas had pulled away from her. In a blink of an eye however, the girl had put another sickeningly sweet smile back on her face, and approached Legolas; grabbing his hand.

"Now, dear," Elrohir winced at the sappy, high-pitched tone the elleth was using, "I'm sure your friends need to recover from their long journey. How about we stop bothering them and go for a walk through the gardens, hmmm?"

Then, without waiting for an answer, the girl dragged Legolas away. As the twins and Lindir stared after the pair in shock, Legolas cast them a desperate, pleading look over his shoulder. Suddenly, Elladan grabbed Lindir and Elrohir by the arms; directing them behind a stone statue.

Elrohir and Lindir looked at Elladan in bewilderment as he pulled a scrap of parchment out of the folds of his clothes, "Legolas snuck it into my pocket when he was greeting me" Elladan explained.

As Elladan unfolded and smoothed out the note, the other elflings huddled closer in order to read it as well.

 _To: Elladan, Elrohir, Lindir, and Haldir_

 _You must help me! Luthwen_ (the elflings assumed this was the girl's name) _won't let me be! She's always waiting outside my room in the morning, and only lets me out of her sight when I go to bed. I can't seem to get away from her; she always comes up with some reason for being wherever I am. You must help me, my friends; I fear that if I don't escape from her now, I never will!_

 _Legolas_

"Well," Elrohir stated blandly, "His writing has improved since last time he wrote to us."

"Elrohir!" exclaimed Elladan, looking horrified, "How can you think of something like that at a time like this! Our friend is being… being-,"

"Stalked and driven towards insanity?" Lindir inserted helpfully.

"Exactly," Elladan agreed, before a determined look appeared upon his face, "We must aid him. Now, when are the elves from Lothlorien supposed to arrive? We may need Haldir's help if we're going to try to assist Legolas in escaping from that-that-"

"Warg." Elrohir and Lindir stated definitively as they finished Elladan's sentence.

Suddenly, as if answering the last few statements, a shrill tune echoed out from the trees, if it could really even be called a tune.

Knowing there was only one elfling in all of Arda who could possibly get away with being so annoying and not be reprimanded (mostly because the elfling in question was completely oblivious to how irritating he was being), Lindir and the twins groaned in unison, "Haldir."

Sure enough, the elfling soon appeared from between the trees, surrounded by some very harassed looking elves. Knowing there was possibly only moments left before one of the elves snapped; the elflings quickly darted over to Haldir.

"Greetings Haldir," Elrohir announced loudly.

Luckily, this was enough to catch Haldir's attention and he stopped terrorizing everyone with his cacophonic melody, "Good day, Elrohir, Elladan, and Lindir," Haldir paused and looked around, "Where is Legolas?"

Elrohir quickly glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, fortunately, the adults were too busy exchanging well-wishes, "Quick, come with us," he hissed.

Haldir stared at Elrohir for a moment before dismounting his horse. As soon as his feet had touched the ground, Elrohir grabbed his arm, and led him away from the chattering group of elves while Elrohir and Lindir followed them. When the adults' laughter and talk had faded into a quiet hum in the distance, Elrohir finally stopped.

"Listen," Elrohir began seriously, "Legolas has been captured by a girl-," Haldir had begun to hum the romantic tune of "The Lay of Leithian" causing Elrohir to smack his arm while Elladan and Lindir gave the odd elfling disgusted looks.

"As I was saying," Elrohir began once more, "Legolas has been captured by some girl named Luthwen, and we must help him escape her clutches."

"And how exactly are we going to do this?" Lindir questioned.

Elrohir smiled in such an evil way that it sent chills up the other elflings spines, "I have a plan."

* * *

 **Enchanted Water:** Water taken from the Enchanted River in Greenwood. Coming into contact with this water caused the victim to fall into a deep sleep, and, when they wake up, they won't be able to remember a period of time before they touched the water.

 **Ada/Adar:** The elvish words for Dad/Father.

 **Imladris:** The Sindarin (an elvish language) name for Rivendell.

 **Greenwood:** The forest that will later become known as Mirkwood, but, as this doesn't happen until around 1050 in the Third Age (and this story takes place long before then), it will be referred to as Greenwood.

 **Eru:** The God of Middle-Earth basically.

 **Valar:** In the simplest terms, the gods of Middle-Earth.

 **Elleth:** A female elf.

 **Wargs:** Wolf-like creatures in Middle-Earth, they are often used as a type of transportation for orcs, and serve Sauron.

 **Arda:** The elven word for Earth.

 **The Lay of Leithian:** This poem tells the story of Luthien (an elf) and Beren (a man), who loved one another.

 **Glorfindel:** An elf-lord who's renowned for slaying a Balrog, fighting the Witch King of Angmar (and sending him running), and, in the books, he is the elf that helps Frodo and his companions reach Rivendell (as opposed to Arwen).

 **Erestor:** An elf who attended the Council of Elrond. In this particular fan-fiction (and many others) he is one of Elrond's advisors and spends some of his time instructing Elladan and Elrohir.

 **Celebrian:** This elleth is Elrond's wife and the lady of Rivendell. She is also the daughter of Galadriel and Celeborn.

 **The recorder scene with Haldir was inspired by my brief experience with those instruments in elementary school. *Shudders* I don't think "** ** _Au Clair de la Lune_** **" has ever been so mangled.**

 **Anyways, that's the first chapter. Feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. Constructive criticism is always welcome. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any other works of Tolkien.**

Chapter 2

Four elflings crept through the gardens that lay just outside of King Thranduil's Halls. Elladan, Elrohir, Lindir, and Haldir peered through branches, and glanced around bushes, as they carefully search for their quarry; a young girl named Luthwen, and their friend, Legolas.

Elrohir, who had a satchel slung over his shoulder, suddenly paused and tilted his head to the side, "Do you hear that?"

The other elflings also ceased their searching in order to listen; coming towards them was the high-pitched, breathless voice of Luthwen.

"Quick! Climb that tree!" Elladan commanded upon hearing this, and proceeded to gesture to a nearby oak.

The four elflings rapidly scaled the trunk of the tree and hid themselves amongst the branches and leaves. As Luthwen's incessant chattering came progressively closer, Elrohir quietly reached into the satchel he had brought along, and drew out a water skin, which happened, due to the twins labours that morning, to be filled with a number of creatures. The previously mentioned creatures were creeping, crawling, or wriggling, and either had many legs or were disgustingly slimy.

Only a few moments later, a beaming Luthwen, with a harried looking Legolas in tow, rounded a corner and strode towards the oak tree, in which four elflings were lying in wait. As she came closer, Elrohir carefully removed the covering of the water skin, and ever so cautiously moved to a branch directly above the path Luthwen was proceeding along.

Completely unaware of the trap she was walking into, Luthwen stepped beneath the branches of the oak tree, only to a have a rain of beetles, worms, spiders, and a number of other insects come tumbling down upon her head. With a shriek, the elleth started to desperately dance about; attempting to shake the bugs from her hair and dress. Unfortunately for her however, some of the insects seemed slightly reluctant to leave, having become tangled in her hair and caught in the folds of her dress.

With a shout of laughter, Elrohir leapt down onto the path, and the other three elflings quickly followed him. Legolas stared at them with incredulous delight, "You didn't just-," he broke off, laughing too hard to continue.

"Indeed we did," Elladan smirked, "Now let's leave here before her shrieking attracts every elf in Greenwood!"

The five young Ellyn darted away, Legolas brushing off the few bugs that had happened to land on his tunic. Behind them, Luthwen wailed hysterically, "No! Legolas, come help me!" However, when Legolas did not show any signs of turning around (indeed he actually snorted at her plea) Luthwen let out another shriek, "I'll get you back for this you orcs! Just you wait!"

Unaware that Luthwen was much more upset then they thought her to be, the elflings chuckled at what they presumed was an empty threat, and continued sprinting until they were a ways from the gardens. They then spent the rest of their day free from the annoyance of girls and their strange ways.

Meanwhile however, Luthwen was committing another one of these odd practices. She went crying to her friends about what had happened to her, and, that night, in a fire lit room filled with dolls, clothes, and sewing projects, a pact was made between them. The girls would have their revenge for what had been done to Luthwen; Legolas would regret having scorned her, and the others would eventually come to wish they had dumped something much worse than insects on Luthwen's head. Those ellyn had no idea what was coming for them.

* * *

Legolas awoke the next morning, and slowly dragged himself out of bed in order to get ready for the day. Yawning, he sluggishly got dressed and dragged a brush through his blonde tresses. Satisfied that he looked well enough that his father wouldn't immediately send him back to his room to tidy up, Legolas started towards the door. However, after having opened the door and walked into the hallway, Legolas froze; standing before him was Luthwen, and she wasn't alone. She must have bribed her friends into helping her, for there were five other young ellith at her side.

"Good morning, Legolas," Luthwen trilled cheerfully.

Legolas was immediately put on edge; what was she doing here? Hadn't he made it quite clear he wasn't interested in her at all? However, then another thought occurred to Legolas that instantly blocked all the others from his mind: What was he going to do?!

Legolas recalled a statement his sparring and strategy instructor had drilled into him: When outnumbered, it is best to retreat and wait for further assistance. That was it! He would go back to his chambers and wait until someone decided to see why he wasn't coming to breakfast! But how to get back to his room…

"Err… good morning, Luthwen," Legolas began, "I just realized that I, um, that I… forgot to brush my hair!"

He began to move back towards his room, but Luthwen grabbed his arm, "But your hair looks fine dear!" She reached out and smoothed the silky strands, causing Legolas to grimace, "Now, how about you escort me to breakfast, hmm?"

She began to tug on his hand, and Legolas realized that he had no choice in the matter; he was doomed.

"Um, well, I suppose-," Before Legolas had even finished his sentence, Luthwen began pulling him towards the dining hall, her friends following after them.

"Wonderful, I hear they imported some exotic fruit to serve, and apparently Meluiveril's father has been promoted to supervisor over all of Greenwood's merchant guilds, so Meluiveril will be sitting at the head table with us now. I don't particularly like her; she always wears the wrong colors considering her skin tone and the shade of her hair, you think she could be just a little more considerate of her appearance."

Legolas barely managed not to groan. One of Luthwen's most annoying aspects was that she _never_ stopped talking; of course it meant that he rarely had to actually speak to her, but it was still incredibly irritating. He didn't have to put up with her for long however, for soon they had reached the dining hall, and Legolas managed to extract his arm from her grip. He went to sit beside his father, looking glum.

Soon, Lindir and Haldir had entered the dining hall, and they were eventually followed by the twins. Lindir immediately noted Legolas's less than happy expression and Luthwen's smug look. He groaned, "What has she done now?"

"Hmm?" Haldir answered vaguely, too busy examining the vibrant pink inside of a fruit to truly pay attention.

"You're less than helpful, you realize that?" Lindir glared at him sourly.

Haldir just nodded and proceeded to taste the strange, pink fruit. Almost immediately, his face made his disgust known.

"Lovely expression, Haldir," Elrohir commented sarcastically as he walked to the table with Elladan, "Though it is better than Legolas's at any rate."

"Oh, so you've noticed it too?" Lindir asked, turning to face the twins.

"How could we not? He looks absolutely miserable," Elrohir replied, glancing towards the head of the table where Legolas was sitting.

"Yes, he does," Elladan agreed, "It makes me wonder what that warg has done this time."

"What does it matter what she has done?" Elrohir questioned, "Our reaction to it remains the same, despite not knowing the exact circumstances: Help our friend escape the clutches of that warg, and remind her that Legolas likes her as much as we adore school work, for she is apparently as oblivious as Erestor is when he is devouring the contents of a book."

"Lovely similes, dear brother."

"Don't tell Erestor."

"Of course not."

Lindir looked expectantly to Elrohir, "How exactly do you intend to help Legolas escape her this time?"

"Oh, I'll think of something," Elrohir answered nonchalantly, his eyes lighting up with mischievous delight and his lips twitching into a slight smile.

Not for the first time, Lindir found himself wishing to never be on the receiving end of one of Elrohir's pranks.

* * *

As soon as breakfast had concluded, Elrohir led the other three elflings over to where Legolas was being harassed by a giggling Luthwen. Stepping deliberately between the two, Elrohir greeted Legolas, "Good morning."

Legolas gave him an exasperated look that clearly stated that he thought they should have come to save him sooner, "Same to you."

"So, are you still available for our plans for today?" Elrohir asked.

Legolas stared at him; confused, "But we didn't-,"

Elrohir quickly cut him off, "You know, _our plans_ ," he repeated pointedly.

Finally understanding what Elrohir was trying to do, Legolas hurriedly answered, "Oh, yes, of course."

Luthwen was fed up with being left out of the conversation, "And what plans would these be, Legolas?" she tried to step around Elrohir in order to take Legolas's hand, but Elladan quickly blocked her path. She returned his smug smile with a frustrated glare.

Elrohir smiled brightly before answering Luthwen's question, "We intend to go mud wrestling."

This time, all of the ellyn cast Elrohir confused looks.

"Mud wrestling?!" Luthwen wrinkled her nose in disgust, "But that's so… loutish!"

Lindir nervously noted that five ellith had heard Luthwen's exclamation and were now slowly approaching to stand behind her.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't be that harsh," Elrohir responded, still smiling benignly, "I mean it is rather… messy, but it is a fantastic way to prove one's strength."

Luthwen had regained her composure, "Well, I supposed that is true," she paused to consider something, "We'll watch."

For once, Elrohir was caught off guard, "What?!"

Luthwen beamed at him smugly, "I said, Lord Elrohir, that I and my friends," she gestured to the five ellith standing behind her, "Shall watch."

Elrohir stared at her; this wasn't how it was supposed to go at all. The girl was supposed to be so disgusted that he and the other ellyn would actually take part in something as rough and messy as mud wrestling, that she would leave them alone, and the boys would then be able to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day. She wasn't supposed to volunteer to watch!

Elrohir desperately tried to find a way to convince her that observing something like mud wrestling was not what she wanted to do, "Now, come Luthwen, you must be jesting! It is like you said; mud wrestling can be considered rather loutish. Surely you don't want to associate yourself with such an event? What shall people think? And just picture all the mud and dirt, why, you'll ruin your dress!"

Luthwen smirked, "I'll risk it, and, after all, I do have other dresses I can wear."

Giving up his pleasant façade, Elrohir growled, "Now, really, Luthwen, don't you have something better to do?"

Luthwen just glared at him coldly, "Why so reluctant for us to watch? You do actually intend to go mud wrestling don't you? It's not like you're afraid of getting a little dirty are you?"

Elrohir returned Luthwen's glare, and the other ellyn and ellith watched nervously as tension filled the air.

Without breaking eye contact, Elrohir replied, "Of course we're going mud wrestling, and I am not afraid of a bit of dirt."

Luthwen smiled smugly, "Lovely, so when is this event taking place, and where?"

"This afternoon, just after lunch," Elrohir paused, wondering where they could find lots of mud, and Legolas quickly stepped in to finish his sentence, "Down by the creek near the big willow tree."

"We'll be there," Luthwen turned to leave and her friends followed her.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, Elladan turned to face his twin, "Mud wrestling?!" he hissed.

"Oh, come on, brother," Elrohir complained, "It was the first thing I thought of, and I wasn't expecting that we'd actually have to take part in it!"

Elladan still didn't look particularly happy, "You couldn't have said- oh, I don't know-,"

"Flower picking or butterfly catching?" Haldir inserted and, despite generally being compliant of the antics the twins got him involved in, he didn't look pleased with the situation they were in either.

"But that would have…" Elrohir trailed off as he registered the conclusion of his sentence, and Lindir finished his statement for him, "Made us look wimpy and girly, and hopefully would have caused Luthwen to lose interest in Legolas."

"Or she might have thought it was cute," Legolas added, "She's sort of odd in the aspect of what she finds adorable."

Elladan sighed, "And why exactly are you so accepting of this change of events?"

Legolas shrugged, "I'm hoping that when I'm covered in mud, Luthwen will be much more reluctant to come near me."

The other elflings stared at him and Elrohir groaned, "We really need to get you away from her."

* * *

It was five grim looking ellyn that wandered through the forest that afternoon. As they made their way along the bank of a creek, Lindir found himself wondering whether their pride was really worth doing something as disgusting as getting covered in mud and attempting to fight each other in front of a group of girls. Surely they could just not show up for the event? What was the worst that Luthwen could do? Besides spread the word that the five ellyn were a bunch of wimps; that would be rather awful. With that in mind, Lindir resolved that he would go mud wrestling, no matter how gross it ended up being. He found his resolve wavering a bit when he saw the mud Legolas had picked out, however.

Created in the bend of the creek, after a heavy rain fall had caused the water to rise only for it to drain away, the mud was the sort the sucked you in, and, when you tried to pull yourself out, tended to keep your boots. It was an odd sort of color too, not the dark brown color Lindir had been expecting, but a strange, light beige, creamy tone. The smell was also horrendous, and the surface of the brown sludge had a few small flies buzzing about it. Needless to say, all the elflings were now casting irate looks between both Legolas and Elrohir, who were looking rather nervous. They were going to end up wrestling after all, so having most of the group against you was not something you really wanted.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come," the ellyn turned to face Luthwen, who stood under the branches of the willow tree surrounded by her friends.

Luthwen walked forward and looked pointedly at the pool of mud, "Looks lovely, doesn't it?"

"Indeed," Elrohir agreed sarcastically, before sitting down in order to remove his shoes.

The other ellyn followed his example; none of them wanted to explain to their guardians how their boots had come to be swallowed by a mud puddle.

Once he'd succeeded in getting his shoes off, Legolas walked over to the mud and hesitantly stepped into it. Immediately, his foot sank down until he was mid-calf in the muck, and the goo released a strange squelching noise. Wrinkling his nose, he attempted to pull his foot out, but it seemed to have become stuck, resulting in him overbalancing and nearly falling over. Elrohir went to help him pull his leg out, and Elladan decided to take them unawares. Gesturing to Haldir and Lindir to follow him, he silently began to sneak up on the two oblivious ellyn who had contributed to the mess they were in. Smirking, he took great pleasure in giving the two distracted elves a hard shove.

"Elladan!" Elrohir yelled irately as he toppled over into the muck. He quickly found out it wasn't a good idea to keep one's mouth open when mud wrestling however, when he resurfaced trying to spit out the offending substances that had entered past his lips.

Legolas took no time in extracting himself from the disgusting sludge though, and, with a shout, lunged for the nearest body part, which just so happened to be a leg. Lindir, to whom that leg belonged to, yelped as he was dragged into the muck, which let out a sound along the lines of, "Thibbit," as it swallowed him up. Elladan and Haldir leapt into the puddle to help him, and the girls who were watching quickly backed away as slop went flying everywhere.

What had started with a shove eventually escalated into a fight in which the participants spent nearly as much time slipping about as they did attempting to grapple with one another, and, when the boys were too distracted to notice what was occurring around them, Luthwen decided to put her plan into action. She quietly slipped away from the fight, her friends giving her approving nods, and set out back towards Thranduil's halls.

The boys continued to fight, oblivious to what was going on, and it wasn't until an enraged howl caused the birds to take flight from the trees, that they realized their gathering no longer only included elflings. Stalking towards them, led by Luthwen and followed by Elrond, was a furious Thranduil.

"Legolas!" the elven King exclaimed angrily, "What in Eru's name are you doing?"

Haldir apparently hadn't realized what a dire situation they were in, and cheerfully answered for Legolas, who had been silenced by horror, "Mud wrestling!"

Thranduil glared at his son (Lindir was quite impressed by this; he had lost track of which mud covered figure was which long ago) and hissed, "Mud wrestling."

Lord Elrond decided to intervene, "Thranduil, perhaps we should discuss this elsewhere?"

Thranduil took a deep breath, "Of course. Come along Legolas."

He swept off and Legolas hurriedly followed him, stopping only to grab his shoes. Meanwhile, Elrond turned to face the other young ellyn, "Elrohir, Elladan, and Lindir, if you would follow me please," he paused before adding, "And Haldir as well I suppose."

Elrond then addressed Luthwen, "Thank you for telling us what was occurring. Your help is appreciated," the Lord of Rivendell then walked off in the direction Thranduil and Legolas had gone; expecting the boys to follow.

Haldir, having decided mud was now one of his favorite things, happily got up from where he had been forming a castle out of the muck, and followed the elven Lord. Lindir quickly started after him, but Elladan and Elrohir took their time to cast Luthwen, who was smirking, furious glares before following their father.

The elflings were led through the trees until the path they were on reached a small secluded garden with a large fountain in the center. Here, Lord Elrond turned to face the four elflings, who stared at him nervously as he fixed them in his stern gaze.

"Haldir, as I am not your guardian you shall not be included in this reprimand, but be assured that your brothers will hear of this… mishap. The rest of you, and that includes you Lindir; your father appointed me as your custodian before we left Rivendell, can be assured that this infringement of how you were instructed to behave, as fine young ellyn worthy of the elven Kings hospitality, will not go unpunished," Elrond finished calmly, "Now, I would advise you to go wash some of that mud off in one of the creeks; I doubt the household staff will appreciate having it tracked about the halls."

With that, Elrond turned to leave, causing the elflings to sigh in relief; their reprimand having not been as terrible as they thought it would be. Once the Lord of Rivendell was out of hearing range, the elflings turned to face one another.

"He must be busy; normally his lectures go on for hours," Elladan grimaced in remembrance of the previous scoldings he had received.

"I wonder what's happened to Legolas," Lindir commented whilst tugging on a strand of his muddied hair nervously.

"Never mind him, what do you think is going to happen to us?!" Elrohir exclaimed a worried look appearing on his face as he contemplated the daunting prospect of their approaching punishment.

"You know, your concern for me is really heartwarming, Elrohir," a scowling Legolas appeared from behind a hedge.

"Hello Legolas," Haldir greeted cheerily, not at all put down by the fact that he was covered in drying mud and had just been told off by the rather intimidating Lord of Imladris.

"Hello to you too, Haldir," Legolas responded, "Now, what were you saying Elrohir? Something about me not mattering?"

"I didn't say anything like that!" Elrohir responded indignantly, "I only said that…" He trailed off before quickly trying to change the subject, "Why are you acting like a dwarf whose mine collapsed?"

Legolas raised an eyebrow, "because it's three days from my celebration, and Ada's threatening to cancel everything all because _you_ managed to get us involved in this whole mud incident!"

Elrohir gaped at him before sputtering, "Well if you hadn't attracted that-that _girl_ in the first place, than none of this would have happened."

"Oh, so now it's my fault that Luthwen-,"

"Talking about me, dear Legolas?"

The four ellyn spun around to see Luthwen, backed by her five friends, smirking at them triumphantly.

For a moment, all was eerily silent besides the noise of the birds splashing in the water of the fountain, and then Legolas and Elrohir turned to look at each other. Although the only communication that passed between them was a slight nod of their heads, they both seemed to know exactly what the other was thinking. As one, they charged towards Luthwen, and, before her friends could do anything, they quickly grabbed her by the arms, lifting her off her feet, and began hightailing it towards the fountain.

As soon as she realized the destination to which they were heading, Luthwen let out a loud screech, which immediately prompted her shocked friends to dart after her. Recognizing that Legolas and Elrohir were in trouble, Elladan, Lindir, and Haldir also began to sprint after them. Though Legolas and Elrohir were slowed by their burden, they still managed to stay ahead of the others until they reached the edge of the fountain. At this point, they completed their mission by throwing Luthwen into the water, only to have the other five girls crash into them and send them tumbling into the water as well. Elladan, Lindir, and Haldir only barely managed to slide a stop before causing further destruction, and looked on at the occupants of the fountain in horror.

It was a very enraged Luthwen that was rising from the pool. She did not seem at all pleased with the bits of algae and mud stuck in her hair, and, when a small frog extracted itself from the sopping wet folds of her dress; she let out a shriek of disgust, took a step backwards, and promptly fell back into the water. Legolas and Elladan were also having trouble with the slippery bottom of the fountain, and it was not a happy group that eventually emerged from the pool.

Luthwen stood up shakily and straightened her dress before turning to regard Legolas and Elrohir, who had also managed to relocate themselves on dry ground, with a furious look on her face.

"You-you orcs!" she howled angrily.

"What?" answered a rather annoyed Elrohir as he attempted to dry his tunic slightly, "It's only a bit of water."

"Only a bit of water?!" Luthwen shrieked, "You've ruined my dress!"

Legolas snorted, "I thought you said you had other dresses to wear?"

"I- well," Luthwen sputtered, coming to regret the words she had emitted this morning, before recollecting herself and glaring at the pair, "You'll pay for this," she hissed before stalking off.

Her friends quickly rushed after her, leaving the five ellyn in the clearing. All was silent for a moment before-

"You complete idiots! You absolute half-wits!" Elladan howled, "Don't you realize what you've done?!"

Elrohir and Legolas stared at him in alarm.

Not pleased with the lack of response, Elladan began to explain, "What do you think is going to happen when Luthwen tells her parents how her dress was ruined?"

Slowly, looks of horror dawned on Legolas's and Elrohir's faces while Lindir groaned. If Luthwen were to tell someone what had happened, then undoubtedly their parents and guardians would eventually hear of it, and they would be in even more trouble than they already were.

"We should have stuck to flower picking," Haldir announced sadly.

Suddenly, Elrohir's face lit up, "That's it!"

The other ellyn stared at him.

"Legolas can send her flowers, with some sort of note begging for forgiveness," Elrohir explained, "It'll hopefully convince her not to tell anyone what happened, but we have to do it quickly though, before she tells on us."

"Are you sure this will work?" Lindir looked unconvinced.

"I don't see why not," Elrohir answered, "It's all romantic and sickening, that's the sort of things girls like, and she's smitten with Legolas. Besides, what else can we do?"

With that, the boys set off at a run, Elrohir and Legolas sprinting of to find a quill, ink, and paper, while Lindir, Haldir, and Elladan went in search of flowers. They met back at the fountain in a mere five minutes, and Legolas quickly grabbed the flowers before dashing off in the direction Luthwen had gone. The other four ellyn stayed back at the fountain; nervously awaiting Legolas's return. When he did, he no longer had the flowers or the note, but had the look of one who had just seen a ghost.

Elrohir took one look at his pallid complexion and rushed to his side, "What happened? What did she say?"

Elladan went pale as well, "She hadn't told anybody already had she?"

Legolas shook his head, "No, and she agreed not to tell anybody."

"Then what's wrong?" Elrohir sounded slightly annoyed.

"She only agreed not to tell anybody so long as I meet her in the gardens, at midnight, for a romantic moonlit walk!" Legolas howled, "I'm doomed!"

"Yes," agreed Elrohir, looking rather impressed at the absurdity of the situation Legolas had managed to get dragged into, "Yes you are."

* * *

Luthwen glanced down at the elegant script of the note Legolas had given her for only a moment before crushing it in her hand. A smirk spread across her face; the fool really thought she would forgive him so easily, but he had no idea of what would truly await him in the gardens tonight.

* * *

 **Elleth:** A female elf.

 **Ellyn:** The plural form of ellon (which is elvish for male elf), so a group of male elves.

 **Ellith:** The plural form of elleth, so a group of female elves.

 **Wargs:** Wolf-like creatures that serve Sauron and orcs.

 **Eru:** The God of Middle-Earth basically.

 **Imladris:** The Sindarin (an elvish language) name for Rivendell.

 **Well, there's the second chapter.** **Feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**


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